Life before Evil
by dory2o2
Summary: Ever wondered why there were so few memories of Tom Riddle's childhood? Well that's because Tommy boy spent most of his summers with his father. This fic is not about Tom and father, it's about what made Tom the way he is.


**Disclaimer: I am not JKR, I am not that good. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR! **  
><em><strong>AN: This is my second story. Tell me what you think!** _

Many say I am afraid of death. Those who say that are wrong. I am not afraid of death. You ask why? I will tell you but only if you can keep this a secret. This is my secret and mine alone, but for the price of your death I shall tell you. You have no say in this matter, Lord Voldemort has spoken. My true life began when I found out I was a wizard. I wanted to turn over a new leaf. I truly wanted to be a good person. I did not want my past to effect me anymore. I arrived at Hogwarts like every other first year. Yes I had more of a connection, I was home and for the first time I thought I could be loved. The sorting hat placed me in Slytherin, the home of the cunning. I finally had people in my life I could call family. Weeks passed, I lived in the library trying to prove that I belonged here, that I was not better off at the orphanage. All the teachers, except one, saw what I saw in myself… Possibility. My first year at Hogwarts passed. I found out my lineage, I found the reason as to why I felt so connected to the school; I was Salazar Slytherin's heir. I did not know what to do with this information. I went back to the orphanage for the summer and I found out everything I could about my father and his family. That summer I vowed I would find my father and demand answers as to why he left my mother. I did not find answers that summer, but I knew I would soon.

My second year at Hogwarts was uneventful. Again all the teachers, but one, saw the possibility. Dumbledore never trusted me. I never understood why. Dumbledore seemed to think that spots could never changed. I started to believe him… I was losing self-confidence. I did not want that to be the case, but he had put the seeds of self-doubt in my mind. I did not dig them out, that would be my downfall in later years. My second year passes and I went back k to the orphanage, for what I thought was going to be a regular summer of gloom. I was wrong.

The summer between my second and third year, two important life-changing events happened to me. My father found me and I fell in love. Let me tell you about my father, he looked just like me… except for the eyes. My father found me at the orphanage. He seemed so happy to see me. I could not tell if I was happy or not, but I could tell I was shocked. With a shy smile, he placed a hand on my shoulder and led me outside to a bench nearby. We sat and talked for hours. He told me he did not leave her because she was pregnant, like I was led to believe, or a witch. He left because he was scared. Scared of what others thought of him, scared of fatherhood, and most importantly scared of how much he loved her. He was not put under a spell or a love potion; he had said those things to his parents so they would not think badly of him. He loved my mother but it was a secret love, one he had to hide from his parents and when his arranged marriage was announced, he ran to my mother's house and they left without a backward glance. They lived happily until he ran. He told me that that was the biggest regret of his life. After telling me all of this, he asked me if I wanted to come home with him for the remainder of the summer. I jumped at the chance and was ready to go with in a half hour. We departed soon after and that night I had my real family around me. It was this summer that I had fallen in love.

There are those who say I cannot love. Those people are wrong, I can love it is just I chose not to. The reason why I chose not to love is a good one. I chose not to because love has turned me into who I am a soulless killer. Remember Dumbledore and Grindlewald? Well I had a similar story. As I have said before I fell in love while at my father's place.

She was beautiful, no one could compare to her. She was a muggle (at the time I did not care) and she loved me back. You may say I was too young to fall in love, I say it is people like you that are the reason why true love rarely exists anymore. It was a magnificent summer! It was just too short. The envelope had come signaling summer was coming to an end. I told my love that I had to go back to school she understood and we promised to write letters until next summer.

The school year came and went, the letters stayed strong. Returning to my father's for the summer the first person I sought out was her. It was another pleasant summer but again it was to short. School beckoned once more. The school year passed must the same as the year before, with the passing of letters. My fourth year ended, Dumbledore was still keeping an annoyingly close eye on me. Had I not proven that I had changed? Didn't Dumbledore see that I was happy? You would think a great wizard like Dumbledore, the one who trusts, could see the real me… but no, he believed that once a person was bad there was no way change. Despite Dumbledore's eyes upon me, I was happy and did not care, because I had her. She was my light, the reason why I had no succumbed to the Dark Arts siren call. She kept me good by just being herself and allowing me to love her. She was my light, everything good in my life. Which is why it came as such a shock when I returned to my father's for the summer break to find out that she had left me for another. I spent that summer between my fourth and fifth year moping around. My father tried to console but I was beyond consolement. Nothing could be done about her. I do not know when it happened but by the start of the school, all muggleborns and half bloods were scum, except for me. I was above everyone. I knew things Dumbledore only dreamed o to know I would one day become the greatest sorcerer in the world! Something had snapped inside of me and made me realize that the summers I spent her that muggle was worse than my time spent at the orphanage. The siren call of the Dark Arts was no longer calling to me, I was calling to it. The next summer, after getting that stupid oaf expelled, I returned once more to my father's.

I knew this would be my last day here, along with my father. My grandparents and father never saw it coming. One moment they were sitting to dinner, the next they were laying in it. After returning the borrowed wand I returned to the orphanage and said that I no longer had a family, a gas leak had taken their lives. I got many sympathies, they fell onto deaf ears. Returning to Hogwarts for y sixth year Dumbledore knew what I had done. I did not care; everyone who was ever mean to me would be punished, including Dumbledore. I learned everything I could about the Dark Arts and even pushed some boundaries further then they ever have been pushed. I dropped my fool of a father's name and assumed the role of Lord Voldemort.

That is my story and as agreed up at the beginning your death shall be on my hands; Aveda Kedavra!


End file.
